Holiday Shoppers Keep Buying During Fire

An electrical fire started Wednesday in a department store in Mentor, Ohio during open hours.

Instead of chaos spreading throughout Dillards South in Great Lakes Mall, shoppers went on shopping, completely ignoring the flames and thick smoke that filled the air. Now that's some serious shopping. "It was amazing," said Mentor fire Battalion Chief Joe Busher. "Even though there was heavy smoke in there, they all wanted to stay and shop. We even had to put people at the door to keep people from coming in." The fire was no match for the shoppers. When you've gotta shop, you've gotta shop (even if the item is on fire). Even if your lungs may have to suffer or your life may be at risk. These serious shoppers thought the risks were worth them. There were just too many great deals to pass up on. Fortunately and surprisingly, no one was injured. The smoke detectors had failed to work and an employee tried to extinguish the fire before calling for help. Firefighters soon arrived and put the blaze to sleep within eight minutes; it had started near the women’s dressing rooms and burned circuits of a high-voltage electrical panel. Manager Mary White estimated the fire damage to be about $30,000 and the smoke damage to the merchandise to be about $100,000. Regardless, she said the store would reopen Friday.